Bratislava (retrospective)

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The bus tour of Bratislava was scheduled for the afternoon, and me not feeling the fittest (Carole says she was feeling fine). :-)



However, lunch improved my outlook considerably, so we decided at the last minute to go on the bus, both of us as it happens forgetting in the rush to take any money.



A very exhuberant and very pregnant guide gave us a terrific up-hill-and-down-dale tour. At the Russian soldiers' monument she commented wryly that they (the Russians) did after all rescue Slovakia from the Nazis, it was just a pity that they stayed so long afterwards!



In the middle of the walking part of the tour loud sirens suddenly approached, and a fire engine screeched to a halt at the end of the narrow street we were in. Half a dozen burly fireman in full firefighting gear rushed past us and into a nearby building (which was not emitting any smoke), never to be seen again! The guide didn't seem inclined to offer any explanation, so we shall never be any the wiser!



It's the custom on this trip to tip the bus driver and tour guide at the end of the tour, but, as mentioned earlier, we had forgotten to bring any money! We bumped into an English couple we had had lunch with earlier and asked if they could lend us 10 Euro until dinner time for to tip everyone. They coughed up with surprising reluctance (such a small amount for such a short time to a captive couple on the same river boat!). So there's nowt so queer as folk. Not like the warm hearts we are used to dealing with!



We dined with four very nice Americans, and we all seemed to get along really well (in contrast to another evening's company, when the anecdotes were long and weak!). After dinner we were treated to a concert on the ship by a local folk group, which consisted of a leader (who played violin and other instruments and sang), a bass player, another violin player, an absolutely brilliant cembalom player, a female singer, and two dancers. They performed wonders in a very confined space (see photos). Very virtuosic playing, really tight ensemble, lovely traditional costume, a good sense of fun and a great pride in their heritage. Other than that they were rubbish :-)

Photo Gallery

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